The darkness didn't feel normal.
It wasn't just the lights going out.
It felt like the entire world had been swallowed by something bigger… something alive.
Rachel could barely breathe.
Smoke filled her lungs. Her eyes burned. Her side throbbed where something sharp had cut her glass maybe, or a bullet graze. She didn't even know.
All she knew was that the air was thick with panic.
Gunshots cracked in the darkness.
A man screamed.
Then another.
And in the middle of it all, Rachel heard her mother's voice again calm, controlled, terrifyingly close.
"Let her see."
Rachel turned, but she couldn't see anything.
Only shadows.
Only movement.
Only death.
Her fingers clung to the gun as if it was the only thing anchoring her to reality.
Then she felt a hand grab her wrist.
Strong.
Familiar.
Raziel.
"Move!" he growled, dragging her through the smoke.
Rachel stumbled after him, heart pounding, mind spinning.
Her mother.
Selene.
Dante.
Kai.
And now that voice…
You belong to me now.
It echoed inside her skull like a curse.
Rachel's chest tightened as fear tried to rise, but she forced it down.
No.
Not again.
She wasn't going to be the helpless girl anymore.
Not now.
Not ever.
Raziel shoved open a metal door and pulled her into a narrow corridor.
The sound of gunfire faded slightly behind them.
Rachel coughed violently, pressing her free hand to her bleeding side.
Raziel stopped abruptly and turned to her.
Even in the dim emergency light, she could see his face clearly.
Blood on his lips.
Sweat on his brow.
His eyes burning like hell itself.
"You're hurt," he snapped.
Rachel laughed bitterly.
"You're literally bleeding to death and you're worried about me?"
Raziel grabbed her shoulders.
His grip was hard enough to bruise.
"You don't get it," he said lowly. "If you die, I die with you."
Rachel's breath hitched.
His voice wasn't dramatic.
It was truth.
A vow.
Rachel swallowed, trying to ignore the warmth that rose in her chest even in the middle of chaos.
"I'm not dying," she whispered.
Raziel's jaw tightened.
"You better not."
Before Rachel could respond, the corridor lights flickered.
A loud metallic clang echoed behind them.
Someone was coming.
Fast.
Raziel pushed Rachel behind him, his gun raised.
His posture shifted into something primal.
A predator ready to tear apart the world.
Footsteps.
Slow.
Measured.
Not running.
Not rushing.
Confident.
Rachel's skin crawled.
Then a silhouette appeared at the end of the corridor.
Tall.
Broad.
Dressed in black.
A man.
His face was hidden under a mask silver, sleek, almost elegant.
He stopped beneath the flickering light.
And the way he stood…
It was as if he owned the air.
Rachel's heartbeat stuttered.
The masked man tilted his head slightly.
And his voice poured into the corridor like poison honey.
"Raziel Moretti."
Raziel didn't lower his gun.
He didn't blink.
His voice came out like a warning growl.
"Who the hell are you?"
The masked man chuckled softly.
"I'm disappointed," he said. "I expected the great Raziel to recognize the voice of the man who made him."
Rachel's stomach dropped.
Raziel's eyes narrowed.
The masked man continued.
"You've become sentimental," he murmured. "Weak. Soft. All because of a girl who doesn't even understand what she is."
Rachel stepped forward.
"Don't talk about me like I'm not here," she spat.
The masked man's head turned toward her.
Even with the mask, she felt his gaze like a blade slicing through her skin.
And then he spoke her name.
Not Rachel.
Not Brooks.
Not even Moretti.
He said something else.
Something that made her blood freeze.
"Little Seraphina."
Rachel's body went cold.
Her throat tightened.
Raziel's posture stiffened instantly.
Rachel whispered, barely audible.
"…What did you call me?"
The masked man chuckled.
"Still doesn't remember," he murmured, almost amused. "How tragic."
Rachel's mind spun.
Seraphina?
That name… it felt familiar.
Like a ghost memory.
Like a dream she had as a child.
A name whispered to her when she was small and sick.
A name her mother used to say when she thought Rachel was asleep.
Rachel staggered back a step.
Raziel's voice cracked like thunder.
"DON'T call her that."
The masked man's laugh turned darker.
"Oh?" he said. "So she doesn't know."
Rachel turned sharply to Raziel.
"What is he talking about?"
Raziel's eyes flickered.
His silence was an answer.
Rachel's chest tightened.
"You lied again," she whispered.
Raziel's jaw clenched.
"I was going to tell you
"When?!" Rachel shouted. "After I'm dead?!"
The masked man clapped slowly, mocking.
"This is beautiful," he said. "The great Raziel, protector of the heiress, yet still hiding her true identity."
Rachel's voice trembled with fury.
"I AM Rachel Moretti."
The masked man stepped forward slightly.
"No," he said softly. "You are not."
Rachel's heart slammed against her ribs.
"What?"
The masked man's voice dropped low.
"You are Seraphina De Luca."
Rachel's vision blurred.
Her knees weakened.
De Luca?
That name wasn't Moretti.
It wasn't Brooks.
It was another family.
Another empire.
Another bloodline.
Rachel whispered, her voice breaking.
"No… no that's not possible."
Raziel's expression darkened.
The masked man's tone became colder.
"You were stolen, Seraphina. Taken away from your rightful throne. Hidden under a waitress's name."
Rachel shook her head violently.
"That's a lie!"
But the masked man didn't stop.
He lifted a small flash drive in his gloved hand.
"This contains your birth records. DNA documents. Proof."
Rachel stared at it like it was a bomb.
The masked man took another step.
"I didn't come to kill you," he said. "Not yet."
Raziel's gun followed him.
"Stay back."
The masked man ignored him.
"I came to claim you."
Rachel's skin crawled.
"You're insane."
The masked man's voice turned almost tender.
"Your bloodline belongs to my family. Your mother hid you because she wanted to use you. Selene wants you because she wants your father's empire."
He leaned forward slightly.
"But me?"
His voice turned dark.
"I want you because you're mine."
Rachel's stomach twisted.
Raziel moved instantly.
He fired.
The bullet flew
But the masked man twisted like smoke and dodged.
Too fast.
Too skilled.
Raziel fired again.
The masked man disappeared into the shadows of the corridor.
Rachel gasped as she felt something cold press against her neck.
A knife.
Behind her.
She froze.
Raziel's eyes widened.
"Rachel
The masked man's voice whispered into her ear.
"Don't move, Seraphina."
Rachel's breath trembled.
Raziel's gun aimed directly at the masked man's head.
"Let her go."
The masked man laughed softly.
"Or what?" he whispered. "You'll shoot? And risk killing her too?"
Raziel's jaw clenched.
Rachel's mind raced.
She remembered training.
Breathing.
Control.
Rachel shifted her weight slightly…
Then struck backward with her elbow.
The masked man grunted but didn't fall.
His grip tightened.
The knife pressed into her skin, drawing blood.
Rachel hissed.
Raziel's voice dropped into something monstrous.
"You touch her again… and I will tear your spine out."
The masked man's laugh deepened.
"Possessive," he murmured. "But she's not yours, Raziel."
Rachel felt his lips close to her ear.
"Tell him," the masked man whispered. "Tell him who you truly belong to."
Rachel's voice trembled.
"I belong to myself."
The masked man paused.
Then, unexpectedly…
He laughed.
Not mocking.
Pleased.
"Good girl."
And then he shoved Rachel forward.
Rachel stumbled into Raziel's arms.
Raziel caught her instantly, pulling her close.
The masked man stepped back, disappearing into the flickering shadows.
Before he vanished completely, he spoke one last sentence.
A sentence that shattered Rachel.
"Your mother is not the Shadow Queen."
Rachel's eyes widened.
The masked man's voice turned deadly.
"She is the traitor who murdered your real mother."
Then he vanished.
Silence slammed into the corridor like a coffin lid.
Rachel's breath came out in broken gasps.
Raziel held her tightly.
She could feel his heartbeat pounding like war.
Rachel whispered.
"…My real mother?"
Raziel didn't answer.
Because he couldn't.
Rachel looked up at him, tears burning her eyes.
"Raziel… what did he mean?"
Raziel's lips parted…
But before he could speak
A loud speaker system crackled on.
And her mother's voice filled the building.
"Bring her to me."
Rachel froze.
Raziel's face darkened.
And the speaker continued.
"Or I will kill every man you love, one by one."
Rachel's blood ran cold.
Because she knew her mother wasn't bluffing.